


Success Is Relative(s Claiming Credit For The Things You Accomplished Despite Them)

by revenblue



Series: [collection] Dwampyverse Salt Mine [2]
Category: Milo Murphy's Law, Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Heinz still can't acknowledge his parents' abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, POV Second Person, Unreliable Narrator, or that he pushed away the people who care(d) about HIM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 09:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17937668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revenblue/pseuds/revenblue
Summary: Mother waves, again, and you wave back. They always believed in you. Everything they did was to make you a better person, so you could become the great Professor Time.





	Success Is Relative(s Claiming Credit For The Things You Accomplished Despite Them)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 25 minutes _into a friend's Discord DMs_ , because I was reading Captain Awkward and _this line_ hit me over the head like a baseball bat:
>
>> This thing where abusive parents come claim their children once we’re successful enough on paper (and try to retcon everything about the past) is a depressingly common one
> 
> ([source](https://captainawkward.com/2019/02/25/1180-1181-graduation-days/)) 

You made it.

Bright summer sun shines down on the assembled crowd, as if the weather's celebrating too. All those people, all cheering _for you_ , celebrating _you_ , you smile and wave the way you'd always dreamed would happen someday. Is this what success feels like?

Even your parents are here, smiling and crying and so so proud, Mother's finally proud of you, and isn't that what you wanted? Father's not scowling any more, Mother's been gushing all day over how she always knew you'd make it, and your whole family's here to celebrate. Except Vanessa, she had _work_ , apparently, and didn't have time to talk. Hasn't had time to talk for... a while now. But she's happy for you, you could tell.

Norm's not here either, but that's not a _bad_ thing, he'd only ruin your perfect day. Stupid pile of parts.

And as for that lying liar who _lied_ , Perry the Platypus, who needs him? Certainly not _you_. Sure, he sent _cards_ , but that was years ago. A dark time in your life. They stopped after a while, and you're glad. All he ever did was hold you back from _true_ success. Which you've achieved, now. _Without_ him.

You wonder if he knows.

Mother waves, again, and you wave back. They always believed in you. Everything they did was to make you a better person, so you could become the great Professor Time.

"Congratulations, Heinz," your brother says, beside you. He's not Mayor any more, after the incident with the... you never did find out what happened, actually. The point is, he's here to celebrate _your_ victory.

Smiling, you thank him, hoping he can't hear the stretch in your voice. It's just nerves, right? Everyone feels this nervous when they're about to accept the key to the city.

You finally won.

And yet, every flash of teal makes your breath catch.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so. I make it no secret that I have a _lot_ of feelings about one Heinz Doofenshmirtz and about what Milo Murphy's Law has done to him.
> 
> Tl;dr my interpretation of PNF's finale is that it's the culmination of an unplanned arc in which Heinz learns that success isn't everything because the people who matter (Vanessa, Perry, Norm) will love him regardless. Which still leaves things unaddressed (like his efforts to "earn" the love of his definitely-abusive parents ~~protip: it doesn't work like that~~ bc he can't acknowledge how much they hurt him, or his inadvertent replication of his own childhood abuse with Norm) but hey, it's a start.
> 
> And then MML came along, claiming that he's ~destined to be successful~ and he has no choice in the matter (not even about his damn _name_ *seethes*), all the while pretending Vanessa and Norm didn't exist (disclaimer: I know they came back but I stopped watching after Sick Day) and driving a wedge between him and Perry...
> 
> That's where this came from. Taking _that_ whole mess to its logical conclusion.


End file.
